NO. 3 ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT PARAGONAH JUDD 13 



retained its circular form, remaining somewhat isolated and wholly 

 or partly underground. Pueblo mythology prescribed a subter 

 ranean position, in respect to habitations, for purely ceremonial 

 rooms and the Indians of to-day still adhere to tribal custom as far 

 as possible, despite persistent efforts of their conquerors to sub 

 stitute new religious precepts for the ancient beliefs. 



The kivas in the big mound at Paragonah were circular in form; 

 they were entered through a roof opening at a level corresponding 

 to that of the court. This subterranean, or semi-subterranean posi 

 tion, however, appears to have been obtained in a manner somewhat 

 different from that which governed the construction of such rooms 

 in cliff-dwellings and exposed pueblos. In the two latter a location 

 already lower than the houses was frequently chosen or a natural 

 concavity was enlarged and deepened to meet requirements, or 

 dwellings were even built up around the kiva, leaving it in a sub 

 jacent position. The circular rooms in the big mound, on the other 

 hand, apparently were excavated from extensive piles of debris 

 accumulations which permitted the desired subterranean situation 

 and yet left the kiva floors on practically the same level as those of 

 the neighboring secular structures. Whether these piles were wholly 

 artificial or whether they represented merely the usual court deposits 

 could not be determined with certainty by the investigations of 1917. 

 The important fact to be considered is that circular structures have 

 been found in this section of the w^est and that they were given an 

 underground position in respect to the adobe habitations. 



Architecturally, the Paragonah kivas were constructed in a very 

 simple manner. A hole of the desired depth and diameter was exca 

 vated from accumulations of earth and camp-fire debris; its walls 

 and floor were then surfaced with mud and allowed to dry. This 

 method appears in sharp contrast to that employed in the adjacent 

 houses where superposed courses were laid with considerable care. 

 In most cliff villages of the Southwest those rooms designed pri 

 marily for ceremonial purposes represent the highest local develop 

 ment in masonry, but at Paragonah the contrary is true. The mud 

 plaster was spread directly upon the face of the cut and, from the 

 outside, there is nothing which would suggest the presence of a wall. 

 A roof of the type previously described covered the room and the 

 customary hatchway served as the sole means of entrance. In none 

 of these chambers was anything found which would correspond to 

 the sipapu, the fire screen or the wall recesses in prehistoric kivas 

 throughout the San Juan drainage, for example. 



